Josef kleiist



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v J KLEIN.

SG AFFOLD AND FIRE ESGAPE.-

d' fsf 'PatentedJag. 22, 1884..

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS WITNESSES: z

N PETERS. FhotaLilhngmplmr. Washinglnn. n.c

' NrrED STATES JOSEF KLEIN, on

ATEENT Prion. Y

NEW YORK, N. Y.

SCAFFOLD AND Fl RE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,21, dated January 22, 1884.

' Application filed N'ovcmber 9, 1'83. (X0 model.)

1'0 all whom it may cancer/2.;

Be it known that I, JOSEF KLEIN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scaffolds and Fire-Escapes, of. which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to animproved scaffold and fire-escape for hotels, factories, tenement-houses, and other buildings, which is intended to be used for the double purpose of serving as a scaffold for painting or cleaning the exterior wall of the building, washing windows, &c., and. as a fire-escape in case of danger, and the invention consists of a scaffold that is suspended by ropes from horizontal rack-bars that are guided on strong posts of theroof of the building and'moved forward or back with the scaffold by pinions meshing with the teeth of the rack-bars. sion-ropes are guided in hook-eyes sliding on fixed arms arranged below the cornice of the building and applied to drums atboth ends of the scaffold, which drums are simultaneously operated by a transmittingshaft and bevelgears from ahand-crank provided with ratchet-and-pawl mechanism, and located centrally between the winding-drums.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure .1 represents a front elevation of a building with my improved scaffold and fire-escape arranged on the roof of the same. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the building, showing my improved scaffold and fire-escapelowered for use. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are respectively a front view, an end View, and a detail of the hoisting mechanism of the scaffold; and Fig. 6 is a detail of the sliding hook-eyes for guiding the suspension-ropes of the scaffold.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A -in the drawings represents a scaffold of any approved construction,which is provided at the ends with upright posts B B, that are rigidly secured to the platform or bottom of the scaffold A, and provided with bearings for the transverse shafts O C of the drums O, that are keyed thereto midway between the upright posts B B. The suspension-cords D D are applied to the drums and wound or unwound therefrom by means of a longitudinal shaft, a, that turns in bearings of the posts B B, and is provided near'its center and its end The suspenwith bevel-wheels a, of which the central one meshes with the bevelgear a, that is revolved by a hand-crank, a", keyed to the shafts of the bevel-gear a, while the outer bevel-wheels, a,

mesh with bevel-gears a of the drum-shafts C and impart revolving motion in one or the opposite direction thereto. A ratchet-wheel,

a is placed on the shaft of the crank a and locked by a pawl, a, as shown in Figs. 3 and v 5. By turning the hand-crank o the suspen sion-ropes D D are either wound on the drums C or unwound therefrom, according as the scaffold is desired to be raised or lowered. By the transmitting shaft and bevel-wheels shown 'a scaffold of considerable size maybe raised or lowered without difficulty by a sin' gle person standing at the center of the plat form. The suspensionropes D D are guided in hoolceyes D at the ends of horizontal rods, which are guidedby means of sleeves on fixed arms D, secured to the wall of the building, below the cornice, whereby the scaffold,when suspended, is kept at the required distance from thewall. The suspended ropes D are applied at their upper ends to horizontal rackbars, E, that are supported in fixed upright posts F, secured to the roof by braces F and fastening-rods F at such a distance from the cornice that sufficient room for the scaffold is provided in front of the upright posts F. The rack-bars E are guided along forward-extending supporting bracket-rods E and moved forward or back on the same by pinions E, which mesh with theteeth of the rack-bars E. The pinions are operated by a longitudinal connectingshaft, c, that turns in bearings of the posts F, and is provided atone or both ends with a hand-crank, o. By turning the pinion-shaft e in one direction, the rack-bars E are moved forward, so as to extend beyond the cornice of the building, while by turning the pinion'shaft in the opposite direction the rack-bars are moved back toward the posts F. WVhen the scaffold has been raised abovethe level of the cornice of the building, it is'moved inwardly by the rack-bars and secured in position on the roof in front of the posts.

To facilitate the motion of the scaffold, it is provided with bottom rollers, f, as shown in Fig. 4.

When the scaffold is desired to be-used for painting the exterior of the building, or for cleaning the windows, or as a fire-escape in tachcd, standards secured to the roof of the 25 case of danger, it is lowered by first moving building for supporting and guiding the rackthe horizontal rack-bars E and the scaffold to I such an extent that the latter clears the cornice of the building. The person using the scaffold then gets into it and lowers the same by unwinding the suspension-ropes D from the drums G by turning the hand-crank a". iVhen below the cornice, the suspension-ropes are placed into the hook eyes, which are then drawn out to their full length, so as to keep the scaffold at such a distance from the walls that it moves clear of the window-sills and other projections of the same.

The scaffold can be raised or lowered by one person without difiiculty, and can be used as such or as a iire cseape, as required.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of a svaiiold provided with winding-drums at its ends, means for actuating the same, suspension-ropes applied i l 1 l l to said drums, horizontal rack-bars to which a the upper ends of the suspension-ropes are ati bars, and means for moving the rack-bars and scaii'old forward and backward, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a scaii'old provided with winding-drums at its ends, means for operating said drums; suspension-ropes applied to said drums, hook-eyes for the ropes, applied by guide-sleeves to fixed rods below the cornice, horizontal rack-bars to which the upper ends of the suspension-ropes are attached, upright posts secured rigidly to the roof, for supporting and guiding the rack-bars, and

means for moving the rack-bars and scaffold forward or back, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

.TOSEF KLEIN.

it-messes:

CARL KARI, SIDNEY MANN. 

